Breaking the Cycle of Big Man Rule in Africa

Interactive Planning

“…However, "developing a purposeful approach to systems" was the thing that consumed his interest. [11] Ackoff was steeped in the intellectual traditions of architecture and philosophy, a background he shared with his mentor, C. West Churchman. Their self-defined mission was to set up an Institute of Experimental Method to apply philosophy to societal issues.…”

“…As Ramirez [10] suggested, problems, even as abstract mental constructs, do not exist in isolation, although we isolate them conceptually. Appraising the direction of human development and the contribution of the discipline he had founded, Ackoff did something unthinkable; at the pinnacle of his field, he opted to change course, charting a new way forward that has marked the path of systems theory for decades since [11].…”

“…Ackoff's shift away from traditional OR gave birth to Interactive Planning as a construct flexible enough to hold its value in a changing world [11]. This chapter presents the theoretical and methodological background of Interactive planning in detail, including the philosophy of idealized design.…”

Navigating obstacles, opportunities and reforms: women’s lives and livelihoods in artisanal mining communities in eastern DRC

“…This chapter uses these two different types of applications of power to understand how exactly power has been applied. Relatedly, the chapter adds to the development of two concepts: the rule of the 'big man' (Watson 2010), which appears to be more direct (but sometimes can also imply to the presence of broker), and the broker, which is indirect (Takemura et al 2006).…”